Jury selection to begin for final suspect accused in Oct. 2020 Wardville homicide

RAPIDES PARISH, La. (KALB) - The last of the five suspects who were charged in connection with the Oct. 20, 2020, deadly shooting of Edwin Davidson, Jr., 17, at a home on Orchard Loop in Wardville will head to trial this week on a second-degree murder charge.

Jury selection begins on Tuesday for Tyrone Compton, 23, of Cheneyville. According to the Pineville Police Department, the shooting was tied to an earlier narcotics transaction in which a portion of the group arrested was shorted Xanax. While evidence showed Davidson was present for the transaction, police and Assistant District Attorney Lea Hall, who is prosecuting the case, have said Davidson was not part of it.

The State alleges that Compton was part of the group who participated in a drive-by shooting at a home on Orchard Loop where they believed the dealer was staying, and that Davidson was not the intended target.

If convicted on the second-degree murder charge, Compton faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

In March 2023, co-defendant Terrence Armstrong was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder. In November 2022, another co-defendant, Andrew Mayo, was convicted on the same charge. Another suspect, Pamela Smith, was sentenced in June 2021 to 20 years in prison for a plea to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. The final suspect, Kaitlyn Carlino, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in August 2021 and is awaiting sentencing on July 13.

Compton is represented by Phillip Robinson. Judge Greg Beard is presiding.

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